Of Might and Magic
by SharonH
Summary: Xover. Possibly Mary Sue, hope not. Several of Arthur's men are teleported to The Forgotten Realms of Faerun. Their adventure begins in Undermountain.
1. Chapter 1

The story about to commence takes place one month after the events of the movie. The tale does not center on King Arthur; nor does it include Bors and his brood. If you find it Mary Sueish, oh well, this is entirely for my enjoyment. This is a crossover tale for King Arthur's knights and the land of Faerun. There will be romance, as well as action, adventure, pain, triumph, blood, and glory. The knights of Arthur will be entering a world they never knew existed; a world similar to the fairytales they grew up hearing, but not everything in this world is a happy ending. Monsters only dreamed of, races only imagined; surrounded by magic, might, and mystery we'll see how our brave knights make new friends, new enemies, and begin new lives…

The old man hobbled across the grassy field chuckling madly to himself. The night was clear and still as dawn approached, a rare evening for Briton. "First things, first, yes, yes, first things first…" he mumbled. The man spared one quick glance to the small cemetery and kept moving forward. He made it to the open tavern and almost grinned gleefully. "Right where we knew they'd be; yes, right there."

For the most part the tavern was quiet. Most of the patrons had retired to their rooms and were sleeping off their drink. Two men however still sat at a table, mugs of ale in front of them, and somber expressions on their faces; neither looked up as he entered and approached.

Both men were attractive, not that the old man really noticed, but women certainly would. The older of the two had long blonde hair that was tousled and braided in some areas. Icy blue eyes were surrounded by thick, blonde lashes, and at least a week of scruff covered his cheeks and chin. The second man had shorter dark hair that curled recklessly. He too was scruffy, but the eyes that now turned to the man were a jade green.

"Is there something you're needing help with Sir?" The brunette asked using the term to show respect for the elderly man. He was quite odd looking in the younger man's opinion. The man's hair was still black, yet it was liberally streaked with the white and gray of old age. His nose was large and hooked downward, and his eyes were a muddy brown and deep set in his leathery face. The man wore black robes belted with a brown sash, and carried a wooden walking stick that was as tall as his head.

The old man grinned and it wasn't difficult to see the tinge of insanity burning in his eyes. "Am needing the help of Arthur's Knights. Dagonet, Galahad, Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan."

The blonde man stood. "I'm afraid you won't be able to find everyone on that list good sir." He murmured.

The man frowned. "Must."

"You have found Galahad and Gawain. Our brethren have passed from this world." The brunette threw a look at his companion.

"Have a quest, a very important quest that must be fulfilled!" the man almost snapped. "Take me to them."

Gawain, the blonde man, didn't like the old man's tone, but he also wanted to get this over with so he could drink some more. "Come then, we shall take you to our brothers' graves."

The three men made the short walk to the cemetery and the old man stood staring at the three graves with a frown. He poked his stick at the spot where Lancelot had been burned. "Still enough, but won't be easy." He said crossly pointing his finger at the other two as if everything were their fault. The man began digging through a pouch on his belt and brought out a vial filled with liquid so blue it was almost black. He chuckled, "Been working on this one for years." He whispered conspiratorially. The man then proceeded to empty one third of the bottle onto each grave of Lancelot, Tristan, and Dagonet, until the bottle was empty. Galahad and Gawain weren't sure what was happening. Had the man just desecrated their friends' final resting places? "Domine skrash veil lero!" He practically shouted.

The man put the empty vial back into his pouch and sighed. He rubbed his hands together, coughed once, stared at the ground, and then sighed again. After several moments of complete silence it was Gawain's turn to sigh. "Okay old man, time to go. We'll get you a nice warm place to sleep…" as he began to move forward to take the man's arm the ground began to tremble. He fell back a step with his hand automatically going to his axe. Galahad had taken a similar stance and was currently drawing his sword.

A thick, nauseating mist had risen from the ground and hung there as the trembling continued. "By the Gods what is happening?" Galahad murmured in horror. The ground over the graves was breaking, and the ashes, all that was left of Lancelot was swirling in the air. Thunder clapped in the once quiet air, and a flash of lightning illuminated the area.

The mist finally began to clear and the old man waved it away from him while coughing. "Gotta work on the smell next." He muttered and brushed off his robes.

Gawain dropped to his knees as he looked at where the mist had been the thickest. Something he'd thought to never see again. Lancelot, Tristan, and Dagonet lay on the ground as if sleeping. Their chests rose up and down as breath moved their bodies. All wore their armor, and all held the weapons they'd carried in life. Galahad too was in shock. "What dark sorcery is this?" his voice came out hoarsely.

"Told you I had need." The old man sighed in exasperation. "Not much use to me dead now are they?"

Slowly the men who'd moments before been dead began to wake. Lancelot, the last to die, was the first to become conscious. His eyes blinked open drowsily. "What has happened?" his voice was rough with disuse.

"Get up! Get up! Don't have all day you know." The old man snapped and began mumbling under his breath. The only words the men could hear were 'looking……..players….game….women…can't wait'. None of it made sense to them. The old man waited impatiently as Lancelot began to stand with Gawain's assistance. Galahad moved forward to check on Tristan who was waking, and then Dagonet. Once everyone was standing, all looking extremely confused, the man clapped his hands. "Splendid! We're ready for our journey."

"We must tell Arthur!" Gawain was caught between rejoicing and fear.

"And Bors of course!" Galahad added. Tristan was staring around himself not understanding what had happened. Galahad clapped a hand onto Tristan's shoulder. "It is glad I am to have you all back with us." The younger man began to walk and walked straight into an invisible barrier. "What the bloody hell is this?"

"Didn't go to all this trouble so that you could walk away boy!" The old man looked at Galahad as if he was daft. The man began to mutter under his breath once more, but this time it was obviously some sort of chanting. The barrier around them started becoming visible as it shimmered with blue and purple colors. It was as if someone had cut a hollow sphere in half and had dropped one half on top of the group. All five men began feeling a strange tugging in the depths of the stomachs, and they were becoming lightheaded. Dagonet tried to move forward to stop the old man but he was jolted with electricity as soon as he touched him. He fell to the ground clutching his hand. "Magic over might boy, magic over might!" Now he cackled crazily. "As if you could defeat Halaster Blackcloak!" were the last words the men heard before a blinding white light exploded over them.

They walked the dark cavern hallways as silent as possible. This was no easy task. Several of the party members wore full plate, and they were all weary from their weeks under the mountain. Bloody and gritty from fighting Drow, Trolls, Bugbears, and gods only knew how many Duergar, the five women trudged on hoping they'd find their escape from this pit of hell soon. Two redheads, one raven, one chestnut, and one blonde made up the party. One of the redheads, and the blonde were human, the other three were elfkind.

The smallest of the group moved forward to the wooden door set into the stone hallway. Her fingers were nimble and clever as they moved over the door and handle searching for anything out of place. She finally looked up and gave them the all clear signal. She brushed her long, soft chestnut hair back over her shoulder and moved away from the door. She watched in silence as the tall blonde human fighter and the shorter, although certainly not weaker, dark haired elven fighter moved forward into door opening position. They had to use extreme caution anytime one of them opened a door of any sort. Undermountain was a labyrinth of traps and horrors.

The door swung open revealing another hallway. It led approximately forty feet into darkness before turning to their right. The group began to move forward. As soon as the last figure was in the hallway a large stone slab slammed down blocking off the area they'd come from. Four pairs of eyes turned to look at the thief.

"There's no way anyone could have found that one." She said in a bright voice.

The dark haired fighter slumped against the wall, and the redheaded human sighed dejectedly. "That's what you've said the last three times traps have sprung Naciel."

The thief, Naciel, sniffed and folded her arms over her chest. She turned from them with a pout on her delicate face. "Well then, if you don't think I do a good enough job, maybe you should check from now on."

"What now?" KiaLyn, the redhead human peered down the hallway and then turned to look at Kat, the dark haired fighter. Even through the helmet KiaLyn could feel the elf's piercing green gaze on her.

"Not much choice. We keep going." Kat's words were short and to the point. No reason to make chit chat. "Check for secret doors as we go. Melevey, perhaps some light for the humans?"

The gold skinned, redhaired sun elf pulled out a rock and spoke softly. "Luminos." Muted light came into being making her gold-green eyes shimmer.

The women continued on and turned the corner. Now, instead of just the sounds of their own armor they could hear something up ahead. Melee. Someone was fighting. As stealthily as possible they moved forward to where the hallway opened into a large cavern. The sight before their eyes startled them. Five human men, all in armor, were currently in battle with seven hook horrors. The beasts were large, taller than most men, with hard gray exoskeletons. Their heads were almost vulture like, they stood on two legs, and their arms ended in large hooks. The creatures made clicking and clacking sounds to communicate with each other, and their eyes resembled eyes one would find on an insect. Currently these beasts appeared to be gaining the upper hand against the men. Several of the men were wounded; one looked to be bleeding quite badly.

Both Kat and Waverly, the blonde fighter moved forward to aid the men instantly. Even while running Kat pulled her long sword and her short sword; Waverly pulled out the large two handed bastard sword and was swinging for the head of the closest hook horror. Behind them Naciel had pulled out her bow and was aiming to fire. Melevey was preparing a spell, and KiaLyn was moving forward with her mace getting between the badly injured man and the beast.

The creature shrieked as green darts of acid ripped into its natural body armor. It lashed out at KiaLyn, but she managed to duck out of the way, and proceeded to slam her mace into its side. Meanwhile Kat had begun slicing on another of the creatures. Two of the men had managed to dispatch two of the creatures, and two other creatures looked quite the worse for wear. Between the ten of them it didn't take long to defeat the monsters. As a whole it seemed everyone breathed a sigh of relief. KiaLyn turned to look at the injured man at her feet. She dropped to her knees and began rifling through her bag. "You are very hurt." She told the handsome blonde man in a gentle tone. Even bloodied, dirty, and in pain, it was easy to see these were handsome men. "I will help you." She waited for a moment for him to nod his understanding.

"Gawain!" A dark haired man with deep green eyes called. The men swarmed their comrade and KiaLyn, who began to get nervous. A tall man, almost as tall as the hook horrors themselves, crouched close. He had soft blue eyes, and his head was shaved.

"Please, I can not help him with everyone so close." Kia pleaded.

"Come, we need help pushing these hook horrors into the corner of the room." Kat ordered and began to help Waverly. The men, who didn't like being ordered about, let alone by a woman, hesitated for only a moment before assisting.

The tall man stayed with Kia and the man they'd called Gawain. "I can assist you." He offered the redhaired woman.

"There is no need. I have the help of my God. He is always with me. I do appreciate your offer." Kia laid her hands upon the wound on Gawain's side and began to sing softly.

"Hook horrors? That is what those…things are called?" one of the men asked faintly.

Both men watched in astonishment as the wound visibly healed before their eyes. The pain lessened and Gawain stared in awe. "Rest here for a moment. I must tend to the wounds of the others." She told him calmly.

Tristan studied the women who had appeared to assist them. All of the women were shorter than the knights, and all were clothed in strange armor. The woman who appeared to be healing Gawain had long, straight reddish blonde hair pulled back into a braid. She had dark brown eyes and some freckles graced her pale face. She wore heavy armor and an emblem of a rising sun around her neck. The woman currently searching the walls of the cavern they were in was… different. He hadn't gotten an extremely close look at her but she was the smallest of the bunch and had long, brown hair which she'd pushed behind her ears. She was clothed in leather, with a deep green cloak. A belt pouch cinched her waist, and she carried a strange looking bag on her back.

Another redhead, her hair like bright copper curls, stood back and he couldn't get a good look at her. He could tell she was dark robes. The last two women were obviously the fighters of the group. The short, dark haired one wore full heavy armor which seemed to emanate a faint blue glow. She also carried one of the strange looking bags, and several weapons. She was a two weapon fighter like Lancelot. The blonde fighter was the tallest of the bunch. Short, white-blonde hair framed her face drawing attention to her violet eyes. She wore chain mail, carried a huge two-handed sword, and was currently watching one of the entrances while leaning against the wall. She looked completely at ease, yet he knew she was totally focused.

Kia looked at the newcomers. The men looked…well, confused. Almost as if they were in shock. Knowing that the man Gawain would be fine she moved on to the next man. This man was devilishly handsome with almost black curls, dark brown eyes, and trimmed goatee. He held his arm at an angle that told her it was most probably broken, or at the very least it was dislocated. Yet not a sound did he utter.

"Will you allow me to help you?" she asked him.

He looked to Gawain and to where there was no longer a wound. He nodded once. Lancelot noticed how even though she appeared to be engrossed in watching for more of the monsters the dark haired fighter in the faint glowing armor and helm didn't stray too far from this red-haired lass. The woman began singing a soothing melody and his arm almost instantly felt better. Galahad moved up to their sides. Lancelot noticed the dark haired woman tighten her grip on her swords; almost as if reading his thoughts the lass looked up and over at her dark haired friend.

"Kat, they mean us no harm." Her words immediately soothed the fighter, who relaxed her stance.

"What is it you sing of?" the man who approached asked Kia. This man had brown curls and several days' growth of beard on his young, handsome face.

He looked so troubled. "I sing praise to my God."

"So you are Christian?" the man asked.

Kia's head tilted in confusion. "I do not know what Christian means? What is a Christian?" she asked him.

At first both men gaped at her, but Lancelot recovered first. "Galahad is speaking of the belief of one God. Christians are people who believe in this one God, and Christ was his son. Where we come from many people are becoming Christians. Some out of belief and others out of extreme and forced persuasion."

"What a foolish notion." Kat snorted. "One God…As if one God could be responsible for everyone and everything. As if all races and people would unite to follow one God."

Kia had moved on to Galahad's wounds. Lancelot moved to check over Tristan who appeared to have only suffered a knock on the head. It appeared his friend was observing the women. "No, we here in the Realms have many different faiths. I follow Lathander, the Morning Lord. Melevey," she motioned to the sun elf, "She follows Mystra, the mother of all magic. Kat follows Corellon Larethian, God of Elves. Naciel follows Tymora, Goddess of luck, and Waverly follows Tempus, God of war and battle. There are many more Gods than just these few."

"God of Elves?" Galahad questioned.

Naciel had finally made her way around the room and approached them. Melevey came further into the light, and Kat removed her helmet. All the men seemed stunned to see the high pointed ears, and exotic features. "You've never heard of the God of Elves?" The petite brunette elf asked curiously.

"The only elves we have ever heard of, regardless of whether they be Gods or not, are wee folk out of fairytales." The tall man crouching near Gawain explained.

"How is it possible that you have never heard of Elves?" Melevey's brow was furrowed. "We are everywhere in Faerun, most particularly the high elves who seem to breed with anything."

"We are not from here." Finally, the quiet man with tattoos on his face and braids hiding his eyes spoke.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, that's obvious." Kat stated.

"How so?" Melevey asked.

Naciel was walking around Lancelot and Galahad. "Well, just look at them! Their weapons are forged differently, their speech, and look at their armor…" She couldn't help but touch the different chest plates.

Melevey moved closer and seemed to sniff the air. "They have no magic." She seemed stunned by this. "None, whatsoever."

"Where are you from?" Kia asked.

"Well…We're from Briton now."

Lancelot grinned wryly. "Some of us weren't, some of us were dead."

"Doesn't that suck?" Naciel sighed in understanding. "I hate being dead."

"Oh merciful Mystra she's going to tell the Bodak story again…" Melevey said painfully.

Naciel ignored the sun elf. "One time I wished on this well, and a Bodak came after me and I looked at it and it killed me." The men just looked at the girl not knowing what to say; not really knowing what she was talking about. "I swear."

"Look, we've all died at least once. I don't think it's necessary to go into every detail." Kat said a bit impatiently.

"Why don't we let the men speak?" Kia sighed.

"An old man came into the tavern, asked for us and our deceased friends. He said he was looking for me and Galahad, and our fallen brethren, Lancelot, Dagonet, and Tristan." Gawain pointed to each. "Said he had a quest for us. He brought Lancelot, Dagonet, and Tristan back from the dead." Gawain started to explain. "It was as if we were going mad. Then he said we were going on a journey…"

"There was an invisible barrier, and we couldn't escape."

"He jolted me with something…" Dagonet added.

"Said his name. Something like Ha…" Lancelot began but didn't get to finish as maniacal laughter filled the cavern.

"Damn Halaster!" Kat muttered.

"Yes, Halaster!" Galahad cried. "That was his name."

"It seems Halaster plays the same games with you as he does with us." Kia said on a sigh. "We were transported to Undermountain coming up on four weeks ago."

"Minding our own business, heading to Waterdeep, and the old man approached." The irritation was evident in Kat's voice. "Next thing we know, BAM, we're in Undermountain. I hate Undermountain. I never wanted to return to Undermountain."

"You've been down here for almost a month?" Dagonet was once again startled. "You've been fighting those…what did you call them? Hook Horrors for a month?"

"More than those my tall friend." Waverly smirked. "There are many evils that lurk in Undermountain. Many beasts. Halaster created this pit as a torment. It's almost like a giant maze. Adventurers come down here seeking fortune and fame, but most times all they receive is death. He's insane." She finished on a sneer.

"We should not tarry. We know not what lurks in these caverns. The way we came is blocked. You're more than welcome to travel with us." Kia offered. "I can imagine it would be difficult…being in a new land where you must learn to survive."

The men looked to Lancelot. He'd been Arthur's second, and now it seemed he'd be their leader. "Thank you. We will travel with you."

"Excellent. Perhaps we'll double our chances of finding our way out." Kia smiled.

Naciel took up her post in the lead and slightly ahead. She moved silently and hid well as she flit amongst the shadows. Kat and Lancelot took up the lead position behind the thief with the rest of their party in between. Waverly and Tristan took up the rear.

"She moves too far ahead of the light." Lancelot murmured.

Kat shook her head. "No. Elves have vision that can see clearly in the dark. We rarely need a light source. The only reason we have one is for Waverly and KiaLyn." She spoke softly, but her attention was all on the area ahead and around them. "It's called starlight vision."

"We should stop soon Kat. Everyone is weary." Kia spoke softly. She received a slight nod from the fighter.

A whisper of a sound stopped the green eyed fighter in her tracks, and she held out an arm to stop Lancelot. The other women stopped as well which brought the men to a halt. "What is it?" Lancelot's voice was a whisper.

"Naciel has found a door." The women moved up with the men following close behind.

"I see no door." Gawain murmured.

Naciel looked at him from her bright blue eyes. "It's right here silly!" She seemed to search and listen at the wall intently, and then gave a thumb up sign to the other women. At Waverly's quirked eyebrow the petite elf sighed. "I promise!"

Looking amused the two fighters moved forward and the wall swung inward revealing a ten by twenty room. It was mainly empty except for a lot of cobwebs, a small skeleton of a humanoid creature, and scraps of cloth. Naciel entered the room and searched it thoroughly. Once again she gave the all clear motion. The group entered the room and shut the door. Melevey whispered several words and blew a strange powder onto the door.

"What did you do?" Tristan asked curiously.

"I warded it so no one may enter." She told him and moved to a corner of the room.

"What is it?" Galahad breathed looking at the skeleton.

Kia squatted down near it. "Looks to be a kobold skeleton."

"Kobold? Is that some type of dwarf?" Galahad asked.

"You have dwarves where you're from?" Kia smiled, "yet you don't know what a kobold is?"

"Well, dwarves are just humans who are born different. They are little people."

Kia shook her head. "Here dwarves are quite different. They are another race, just as the elves are. Kobolds are another race, normally quite evil and hostile. They're smallish, obviously, are bipedal, and are sort of a cross between a large lizard and a hound."

Gawain rubbed a hand over his eyes. "This place is like nothing I have ever seen."

"What do you fight where you are from?" Naciel asked. "It is apparent you are warriors."

"We fight other men. Humans. Our enemies." Lancelot explained.

"We too fight other humans, but here there are monsters to deal with as well." Waverly said as she cared for her weapon and armor. All of the women moved gracefully as they began to make camp.

"Are you hungry?" Naciel asked in her bright, clear voice.

"I believe we all are." Dagonet responded. "We were transported here two days ago and have not eaten. At first we just wandered around a bit disoriented."

"Here are some rations. They aren't the best, but they'll fill your bellies." she smiled and handed the men the rations before starting to eat her own.

"That is very kind of you." Dagonet murmured as they all took tentative bites of the dried jerky.

The meal was eaten silently and it wasn't until it was finished that Kat spoke. "We should set up watches. Four tonight. I'll take one, Naciel you take two, Waverly three, and Melevey four."

Kia protested. "I can take a watch Kat."

"You've done a lot of healing today KiaLyn. Our wounds from the battle with those Duergar, and then the battle with the horrors. Tonight rest. You can take watch tomorrow."

"We can help." Lancelot spoke.

Kat frowned and shook her head. "The offer is appreciated, but you lot look even more weary than she does. Tonight you get a reprieve. Tomorrow we'll add you to the list…and we'll be glad for it." She watched and as Lancelot frowned she grinned. "It isn't that we don't trust you. You wouldn't be here if we didn't. But this is a new world to you, and perhaps tonight you can get accustomed to this world. Tomorrow we'll pair up for watch."

"Here, we have these extra bedrolls." Naciel was pulling them out of her strange bag. "And someone can use mine."

"Mine as well." Kat said and began to straighten her small area.

"What will you sleep on?" Gawain frowned as the fighter handed him her bedroll.

"I do not have to sleep. I just have to meditate." She told him with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

Melevey smirked. "It's another elf thing."

There was light laughter at this, and everyone settled down to sleep. During Melevey's watch she felt eyes and looked to find the quiet man, Tristan, looking at her. "Can you not sleep?" she asked softly.

"I've been dead for a while. I suppose I've slept enough." He responded just as softly.

She nodded once. "Death is the truest sleep I suppose."

"The woman, Kat, said you've all died?"

Her head tilted to the side to regard him. "This is true. Naciel has died several times; one of her most memorable was the Bodak she brought down upon herself."

"And what is a Bodak?"

"It is a form of the undead. Dark gray, smooth, featureless face; its gaze kills any living creatures. They dwell in the Abyss."

"What killed you?"

"Actually, the last time I died was here. In the Undermountain." She smiled faintly. "My party was made up of three others; Relthyr, a ranger, Ander, a cleric similar to KiaLyn, and Reaver, a human fighter…he was a bit…dim." She shook her head a bit in disgust. "Relthyr was disintegrated by another wizard. Once we killed the wizard we found a resurrection scroll in his belongings. Ander was able to bring Relthyr back. Then we encountered another group. They were as friendly as the wizard. The last thing I remember in that was a barbarian's bastard sword swinging into my shoulder." Melevey moved her dark robes slightly off of her left shoulder to reveal a faint white line slashing diagonally. When Tristan's eyes flit to Kia, Melevey nodded. Dagonet and Lancelot had awoken and were listening as well. "KiaLyn and Kat were traveling with their former party, three men; a half elf by the name of Tanzier, a human by the name of Andrinor, and a half orc by the name of Grimval." It was hard to miss the disgust in her voice as she mentioned the last man.

Kat began speaking from where she sat cross-legged as she came out of her trance-like state. "We were going into the lair of the red dragon, Mistinarperadnacles Hai Draco. She was slain by King Azoun, and there was much treasure to be had. Of course there were still creatures to destroy. On our way to the lair we crossed Cormyr. We liberated a farmhouse, and freed some children who'd been taken as slaves. We ended up meeting up with the group who'd taken the children. They were led by a woman who was a white dragon in disguise. It was quite difficult but we managed to defeat them. Unfortunately, we were not able to destroy the Troll clan who'd taken residence within an offshoot of the lair." Fury raged in the elven fighter's eyes.

The group had begun to awaken, and Kia looked at them a bit sleepily. "The trolls killed us. All but Kavah, our druid. She managed to call an obscuring mist which hid her. She healed Tanzier and was able to finish defeating the last two Trolls. After they burned them, they brought us back to the town temple." The woman began to stretch. "Grimval did not survive the resurrection."

"Which is damned lucky for him." Kat practically snarled. "He got you and Andrinor killed!"

Kia looked at Kat and sighed. "Kat…"

"Don't Kat me! He hid! Big, strong, half orc fighter and he hid in the mist like a scared rabbit! All those axes, and what does he do? He throws his great-axe at a troll, leaving himself with his small throwing axes!" She began muttering in a strange, melodic language under her breath.

"Should have known better. Trusting a half orc!" Melevey sneered.

Kat turned hot eyes on the sun elf; her teeth were clenched. "It was not my idea to have the half orc in the party."

Kia sighed again and turned to explain. "Orcs are another race of creatures; quite evil normally. Orcs and Elves are normally enemies. Well I suppose orcs are enemies with everyone, but especially with elves. Grimval's mother was raped by an orc. Grimval was not evil. Not at all. But, he was quite arrogant, and slow-witted. His first action upon joining our group was challenging Kat to a fight to see who the better fighter was."

Now Kat was grinning. She stood and stretched slowly, her lithe, athletic body moving gracefully. "Grimval was an idiot. He was bigger than Sir Dagonet, broader, just taller; ugly as sin, but had the brains of a brick wall…and that might be insulting the wall." Kat began to dress in her armor again. "He charged me, I took him down."

"Are you stronger than he was?" Galahad asked curiously.

"No. I would say Grimval had quite the advantage in size and strength. If he'd been intelligent, he could've defeated me….maybe."

"So, how did the Troll kill you?"

"They were a clan of ten. Trolls are big, mean, strong….and unless burned they regenerate their wounds. We were outnumbered with one of our strongest fighters trying to fight from a distance. Andrinor teleported to sneak up from behind, but we hadn't seen their Chieftain. He teleported right next to the Chieftain Troll. It ripped him apart." Kat's eyes were filled with the memories of blood and screaming. "I was fighting a troll and saw Kia drop. I moved to get between her and the creature, and then the one I'd been fighting moved with me. A third joined, and the last thing I remember is a tearing pain in my back and my gut."

"The last thing I remember before nothingness was looking down and seeing a large arrow protruding from my chest. We were in the middle of a great battle...which we obviously won." Lancelot looked at his brethren.

Gawain nodded. "You hurled your sword into the chest of the man who shot you. It saved Guinevere's life. She and Arthur married just two weeks past."

"Arthur married the Woad?" Tristan asked.

"Yes. They are King and Queen of Briton now." Galahad shared. The men sat in silence as their fallen comrades absorbed this information.

"We should get moving." Waverly murmured after a moment. "Make more headway to get out of this pit."


	3. Chapter 3

They traveled on throughout the day and were surprised when they had no encounters with anything lurking in the deep of Undermountain. At mid day Kat brought them to a halt inside a small cavern which was an off shoot of the corridor. Everything seemed uncommonly quiet which put the entire party on edge.

"Is this normal?" Gawain finally asked breaking the silence.

The women looked at each other briefly. Kia answered. "No. We should have come across something by now. It's quite rare that we wouldn't have seen anything…"

"It just means something real bad is going to happen soon." Waverly said grimly. "We should start moving again."

In agreement the party traveled on. They hadn't gotten very far when they saw the corridor open up ahead of them. Naciel crept up quietly to the mouth of the hall and peered into the room. The passage opened into a large room at least three times the size of the room they'd slept in the night before. The only items in the room were six large stone statues of Minotaur.

Naciel ran her oh so sensitive fingertips over the edges of the doorway. She ran them along the flooring, and searched for any breaks or cracks. Everything inside of her told her the room was bad news, but there was no going back, and she couldn't find anything. Sighing unhappily she looked at the others. "I can't find anything at all, but it gives me the creepy crawlies. I know there's something wrong there."

Kat raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like Naciel to admit to something like that. The vibes the other girl was getting must be strong indeed. Finally Kat shrugged. "Only way to go is forward."

Nothing happened as the group entered the larger room. There were three doors against the far wall directly across from where they were standing. The first door on the far left was steel, the door in the middle was white marble, and the third door to the far right was thick, brown wood. Scrolled across the wall, starting from the steel door, and not finishing until the wood door, was strange writing. The words were etched deeply into the stone, but they seemed to glow faintly.

"What does it say?" Galahad murmured looking at the strange room. Dagonet and Gawain were studying the strange statues. They knew what they were supposed to be having heard tales of Minotaur as children. Naciel was also searching the statues while the other women searched the rest of the room. Melevey stood beside him, the only woman not moving about. Her amber-green eyes studied the words.

"It's Wizard Tongue." She told him. "There are three riddles. In order for the door to open we must answer the riddles correctly. If answered incorrectly there is a price to pay."

"I found something!" Kat spoke abruptly. Naciel didn't hesitate to leave the area she was crouching to move to Kat's side. The smaller girl felt around and then with a small satisfied grin flicked a small notch hidden in the stone. A panel slid into the wall and it made a heavy scratching sound.

"Lookee lookee." Naciel whispered as she pulled out a large chest which was squeezed inside of the opening.

Before she could open it everyone gathered around to study it. "Look at the craftsmanship." Dagonet seemed awed. Most of the carvings looked like they'd taken years. There was not a rough edge to it.

Tristan's eyes gleamed, "Never have I seen anything like it."

Lancelot's gaze was stuck on Kat who stood sneering down at the chest with loathing and something else he didn't quite recognize. "Spiders." The hatred burning in her eyes was fierce, and her lip curled. "The chest belonged to one who worshiped that evil bitch."

Looking at the chest more closely the party could see that the spiders were intertwined with figures of dark skinned elves. Some of the elves were mutated; their bodies part spider, part elf. Some of the elves were engaged in lurid activities of fornication with both elves, and spider like creatures. Dagonet removed his hands from the chest. Now that he could make out the scenes he found it utterly repulsive. There was even a scene depicting an extremely tall dark woman sacrificing a lighter skinned elf on an altar. Melevey had torn herself away from the writing on the wall and now muttered under her breath and spit on the floor next to the chest. Naciel searched the chest carefully. After several moments she took out a small leather bundle, untied it, and unrolled it to reveal an assortment of long, thin objects.

"What is she doing?" Galahad asked.

"Naciel is our Rogue; she searches for traps in doors, floors, chests. She listens for oncoming troubles, and she is stealthy in many ways." Kat told the man. "She can pick pockets if necessary, pick locks, and is quite good at obtaining information from other sources."

"You mean she's a thief?" The man seemed startled.

"Just another title." Kat shrugged.

All of the men gazed on the small brunette who was busy picking the lock of the chest. "Bugbear's droppings the Drow certainly use nasty locks." She muttered.

"You all knowingly associate with a thief?" Galahad whispered.

Waverly raised one pale eyebrow. "No successful party would be complete without a talented rogue. Luckily, Naciel is extremely talented." The distrust was easy to see now that they knew Naciel's occupation. Waverly approached and spoke very softly for the men's ears alone. "I trust her with my life. Do not presume to know who she is because of her abilities. Naciel would never steal from a member of her party."

A small sigh of satisfaction brought everyone's attention back to her and she looked at everyone with a radiant smile. She'd entirely missed the conversation swirling around above her head. "Got it. I managed to avoid this nasty little present too." She held up a thin, sharp needle in between two fingers. A thin green coating of something could be seen. "Poison, and not the nice sleepy kind either."

"That came off of the chest?" Galahad and Gawain dropped down to look at the needle more closely.

She nodded. "This is a needle trap. Those are quite common, but the poison on it…that's not so common."

"How do you know?" Gawain frowned. All he saw was a green tinge.

She shrugged. "The color, the smell, the way it coats the needle. I've had plenty of practice."

"Never mind all that. Let's open it up and look at what was left behind." Melevey waved impatiently.

Naciel gave a saucy grin and lifted the lid of the chest. There was a faint, musty smell that told them the chest had been closed for a long time. The top was covered by a piece of beige fabric that seemed old and worn. She moved the fabric aside quickly. On top of everything was a small, flat, onyx case. She gave the case a cursory glance and opened it to reveal a set of four wicked looking onyx daggers. Both Naciel, and Tristan drew in deep breaths of awe. She carefully, and somewhat reluctantly, set the case aside and went back to the chest. In the far left corner was a bag holding coins. Naciel handed the bag to Kia to count. Another bag sat to the side and Naciel opened it to reveal a handful of large gems. She set that bag aside as well.

A suit of dark Drow armor was folded in on itself, and under the armor was another small onyx box. That box contained three rings. One of the rings was a plain gold band, one was a plain silver band, and the last was gold and silver entwined and etched with runes. These too were set aside to reveal a pair of boots and a cloak. There were only two other items in the chest; a spellbook and what appeared to be a journal.

"Melevey, is any of it magic?" Waverly asked.

The magic-user moved forward to look at the pile lying at Naciel's feet. "Step out of the way Naciel." She commanded. Everyone moved back. The men watched in awe as she reached into a pouch, threw out some type of dust and spoke several odd sounding words. Their attention was drawn to the pile as different items began to glow faintly. In all; the daggers, the rings, the cloak, the spellbook, and the boots all glowed. "As much as I would love to be able to identify these items now, we really don't have the time."

Kat nodded once briskly. "She's right. We need to get out of here."

"Those words are music to my ears." Dagonet murmured.

"As much as the chest disgusts me….we should keep it." Naciel murmured hesitantly. "We could fetch a high price for it."

"These…dark elves, are they rare?" Gawain asked still seeing the repulsion on the women's' faces.

Naciel and Kat began to push and shove the large chest into the small, odd bag Naciel carried. Melevey regarded Gawain with steady eyes. "They are called Drow. Perhaps when we have more time we can educate you on the evils of our dark-skinned cousins, but for now just know that it is a highly rare occurrence to find one that wouldn't cut you apart given the first opportunity. They are savages. I do not say that out of hate or bias. They would just as soon slit your throat as talk to you. I know of very few that do not embrace evil." Her face was grim. "Some individuals would look at the chest as a unique object; they would see a high value in owning it."

All of the men were gaping as the bag was adjusting to let the chest fit into it. They were even more startled when the bag shrank back into its smaller shape. Naciel slid the bag back onto her back as if it weighed next to nothing. Melevey had turned back to the writing etched into the stone walls.

Melevey spoke the words for all to hear, **"****I am the part of the bird that is not in the sky; who can drown in the ocean and yet remain dry; A last vestige of man that refuses to die. In mourning I am tossed at your feet to lie; and feast on your body, your soul, without cry."**

**"What's that supposed to mean?" Naciel's face was screwed up in confusion. "Maybe it's a monster!" As soon as the words left her mouth a loud scraping noise filled the chamber. "Oops." She muttered and turned to see two of the stone Minotaur beginning to move towards the group. Naciel squealed and tumbled to the corner of the room. **

**"What the bloody hell!" Lancelot yelled in alarm. The men drew their swords and backed away from the stone creations. **

**"Stone Golems!" Kat cried; her swords were in her hands in a flash. "Melevey, work on the riddles, obviously answering them wrong is not an option!" She swung and her sword slashed into the stone sending sparks and shards of the rock flying. This seemed to enrage the creature, who then proceeded to swing his fist, just barely missing the elf. **

**A sense of panic invaded Melevey, but she composed herself to try to figure the riddle before one of her party was injured or killed. Her mind whirled as she thought of possible answers. The sounds of battle coming from behind her were quite distracting. It came to her suddenly. "Shadows! The answer is a shadow!" The two golems came to a halt. **

**She turned to look and saw her friends breathing heavily. Minor flesh wounds seemed to be the only injuries they'd suffered, but the group had managed to take one of the golems down. It looked like they'd banded together to work on one. The other one had taken some damage, but still looked relatively intact. The group looked at each other and realized this might not be as easy as it would seem.**


	4. Chapter 4

Melevey looked at the other party members grimly. "Unless you are certain of the answer do not speak." She ordered. "Mystra knows how many of those things will come to life if we get another riddle wrong."

"I have an idea it will be at least three of them." Gawain muttered. "The one that awoke before, and two new ones."

"Perhaps we could destroy them all before they awake?" Galahad suggested. "Topple them and watch them shatter?"

"What if doing that causes them all to wake up at once?" Kia rubbed a hand through her hair.

Naciel was shaking her head. "We couldn't handle five at once."

"I do not wish to handle five at once…" Lancelot muttered. "Listen to the Lady Melevey, no one speak unless you are certain."

Kat lifted both swords into a fighting stance, "And everyone be prepared. Melevey, would you do the honors?"

Melevey breathed deeply and read, "No legs have I to dance, No lungs have I to breathe; No life have I to live or die And yet I do all three. What am I?"

Everyone was silent. Naciel looked as if she would speak, and Kat glared causing the smaller girl's mouth to snap shut. After several moments of the thoughtful silence the grating sound began again and everyone jumped into action as three of the Minotaur, the one they'd been fending off and two of the untouched, began a new attack.

Naciel squealed. "No one said anything!"

"Obviously not answering isn't an option either." Kia yelled.

"I'm not NOT trying to answer!" Melevey snapped. "I don't know the answer!"

Waverly shrieked as one of the golems fists slammed into her right shoulder. "If you don't know it then help fight!" The blonde's voice was fraught with pain, yet still she fought swinging her bastard sword with one hand.

"Acsolth!" Melevey cried and bursts of acid flew from the tips of her fingers into one of the stone golems eliciting an unholy screech.

"It's a trick question. It's doing four things, not three." Dagonet was busy hacking.

One of the golems had crumbled into small pieces, and another had lost a leg, but still continued to swing. The party was becoming bloodier by the minute when suddenly the last two Minotaur began to attack. "What the devils?" Lancelot shouted and barely missed being slammed.

"I have it!" Naciel tumbled out of the path of a huge stone fist. "The answer is Fire!" With her answer two of the golems fell to dust leaving the party still facing two advancing golems. "Melevey read the last riddle!"

Melevey cried out as loud as she could "They come to witness the night Without being called, A sailor's guide and a poet's tears, They are lost to sight each day without the hand of a thief."

"Galahad!" Gawain shouted as one of the golems cracked his friend across the jaw. It was almost as if their bladed weapons did less damage to these things than they should.

"Stars, the answer is stars." Melevey was shocked to hear the quiet man Tristan call out. There was sudden silence in the room as all activity stopped. The last two golems, both looked as if they would crumple at any moment, stood motionless.

"Thank the heavens." Kia slumped to the ground.

Kat moved to the cleric. "Are you injured?" The redhead looked pale despite the flush to her cheeks.

"One got me in the belly." Kia murmured and coughed. Flecks of blood dotted her spittle.

Dagonet had already moved over and was gently feeling the swollen area. "Can you heal yourself?" he asked softly.

Kat was rummaging in her bag. "No time for that. And it will take too much of her energy." She'd pulled out a small glass bottle filled with a strange blue liquid and pulled the stopped out with her teeth. "Bottom's up." She ordered.

Kia made a face but did as the she-elf commanded. She lay back for several moments. "What was that?" Dagonet asked as he sniffed the now empty container.

"Healing magic." Kat told him and continued to watch KiaLyn. "Hopefully it was strong enough."

The color was returning to Kia's face. "It was." The girl smiled. "And you're right. I was far too weak to cast upon myself. But now I need to see to the others."

Kat nodded. "I'm pretty sure Waverly's shoulder and upper arm are crushed."

"You were limping." Kia pointed out.

"A sprained ankle." Kat shrugged.

"It will be dwelt with." Kia looked to Dagonet. "And what of the men?"

"I believe Galahad's jaw is broken. Tristan has a nasty cut on his forehead. The rest of us are much as your women, bruises and cuts, but nothing we can't survive."

"Well then, we will take care of the serious first, and then address the slight." She murmured.

While Kia moved about healing Gawain kicked at the remnants of golem. He bent down to pick up a piece and a voice startled him. "You don't want to keep a piece of that." He looked over quickly to see the thief, Naciel sitting against the wall. It appeared as if her eyes were closed, but they couldn't be if she'd seen him going for a souvenir.

"Why not?" he asked curiously, but dropped the rock.

Her eyes opened and focused on him. "Because they're magic formed. And perhaps whoever formed them would be able to track you if you carried a piece of his creation with you." Her head had tilted to the side. "I don't know that for sure. I suppose you could ask Melevey, if she'd tell you…it's just something that I think about from time to time. Seems like something that could happen."

He nodded slowly. "Does seem likely in this place doesn't it?" Gawain turned his attention to Galahad as his friend moved to him rubbing his jaw. "Fixed you up then? Too bad, I was thinking it might be nice to have some quiet out of you for awhile." Galahad glared as Naciel snickered.

With all of the healing done Kia took a seat along with the rest of the group. She stared at the three doors looming silently before them. "Which one do we choose?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Well, just sitting here staring at them will get us nowhere." Kat snapped after they'd sat for half an hour.

Dagonet sighed. "She's right. We must choose a door since there is no way back in the other direction. But which one?"

"Marble...Steel...Wood." Melevey muttered. "I would have hoped they would somehow be tied to the three riddles, but it seems not."

"Wood leads me to think of nature and outside." Naciel offered. "But perhaps it's a trap and that's what you're meant to think. I will check all three for traps. Then we can go from there." She decided and stood. The rest of the group kept their silence as she spent a long amount of time examining all three doors. Finally she stood back and frowned. "The only door not trapped is the marble door. The steel door has a magical trap. I cannot deduce the type. It's very bad and very difficult. I am not sure I can remove it. I believe the wood door is not a door at all, but a log trap that will crush whoever attempts to open it."

"This Halaster is mad!" Galahad snapped. "Setting up elaborate traps, and yet even when his victims beat these traps there are a dozen more to take their place."

"Welcome to Undermountain." Waverly murmured. "So we choose the marble door. I for one am not going to risk Naciel's life on the chance that she could maybe untrap a door that could possibly kill everyone, herself at the very least."

"I agree." Kat spoke from her crouching position near KiaLyn. "I will not lose another friend to Undermountain if I can help it. Is it locked Naciel?"

"No." Naciel felt ashamed.

"Do not feel guilt you cannot overcome his magic little friend." Waverly said placing a hand on Naciel's shoulder. "There are many other things you've already overcome in this place."

Melevey moved up to the door and held up her hand. She glanced once at the group with a quirked eyebrow, "Ready?" At their nods she spoke the mage word for open, and the door slid open with an ominous grind. "Luminos." she whispered and a soft pale light filled the empty corridor beyond the door. The group entered cautiously and began their trek into the dark. "You know Naciel, I've been thinking...it is possible the traps you were not able to find upon our early investigations were meant to be that way. Perhaps it was Halaster's plan for us to encounter these men..."

Kat seemed impressed. "That's quite a theory Melevey. I hadn't thought of it, but it would make sense, wouldn't it? It would certainly go along with his other machinations."

"Do you hear something?" Lancelot broke into their thoughts.

The group stilled and quieted. "Water." Waverly deduced and they continued their trek. "There's water ahead. Moving water."

"It is warmer up ahead as well." Tristan added. The blonde nodded at him in acknowledgment. Finally the corridor opened into a large room. The first few feet were sand, and then the sand led into a lake of clear blue water; a waterfall fell from the far wall running rapidly down the back wall of the cavern. In the very center of the lake there was a small island with a loom. A tapestry wrapped the loom. The tapestry was incredibly sad as it depicted two unicorns being attacked by six savage black knights with burning red eyes. The two unicorns were bloodied and looked as if they would not be alive to fight for very long. As the group drew closer to the water they could see a small stone path over the water leading to the island.

Naciel had already started over the stone path. "Naciel, what are you doing?" Kia asked sharply. The other girl didn't answer, and then Kia noticed both Kat and Melevey were also entranced by the tapestry. "It has some power over the elves!" she called. It was too late though. Naciel had made it to the other side and reached out to touch the horrible mural. With a flash she disappeared. "We must follow!"

The others raced to the picture and placed their hands on it. Instantly they were teleported to another place.


End file.
